Still Boring and Dependable: The San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs won their January 9 home game versus the Los Angeles Lakers. San Antonio is 15-2 at home as of that victory. The Lakers are big news during this 2012-13 season, because they are struggling.

There is an angst that falls over the NBA when one of the league pillars is weak. We claim to love parity. But the dynastic franchises and universities in every sport have the most fans. So many of us must secretly, and actually, love rooting for Goliath (and, finally, for his failure).

The Greg Popovich-Tim Duncan era has been amazingly consistent. But since they aren't flashy, they get short shrift from fans and media.

In late 2012, David Stern passed down a fine because Pop didn't play his three best stars--Duncan, Tony Parker, and Tim Duncan. Since then, the Spurs have been wrecking the league.

In 2007, I was a guest caller for a late-night sports show. Long story short, I got the equivalent of an eye-roll from the show hosts.

The San Antonio Spurs had just clinched the title for the third time in five years. One host was moaning about how boring the Spurs were. 

My rebuttal was, to paraphrase, People keep claiming the pros don't play team ball, yet the most machine-like team in the game gets labeled 'boring'. Those talking heads tore me to shreds for an entire segment. "This caller probably likes watching women's basketball, too!" Was great.

The Spurs are again a contender. They seem to peak in odd-numbered years. I still can't find anyone to agree with me, but watching a team where everyone seems to be absorbed and knows their role... it's nice to watch. Like the New England Patriots, everyone knows the game plan but can't do much about it.

NFL 2012 Q1 Report

As usual, the people who are paid to prognosticate started making concrete judgements on the NFL, minutes after Week 1. Football teams were "who we thought they were".. the rest were huge surprises or disappointments. Remember: Week 1 had just ended.

On one sports radio show, the co-hosts joked about our amnesia-riddled, kneejerk society.. and within two minutes were rethinking their preseason predictions because of the first game's results.

Like every specialty channel, ESPN has twenty-four hours per day to fill, on multiple platforms. So there is simply no time to let things lie. Talking heads have to be definitive at all times, and perspective is useless (until time forces it on us). Pump out enough information/trivial tidbits to drown us, and we either won't remember or won't care how many times you were wrong. Numb us in the cool waters of River Terabyte.

This is the name of the game from CNN and FoxNews, on down the line. ESPN is only following the lead.

Random flashes on the 2012 National Football League campaign:

• Watching Tom Brady toss the pigskin around to Gronkowski, Woodhead, Edelman and Welker nearly always gives me the giggles. The N.E. Patriot offense makes me think of a big brother, or the older neighborhood cat who was simply cooler and more athletic than any kid around. The guy all the other guys are copying. I always have the impression Brady's out there playing with midget versions of himself. (Yea, Gronk is physically larger, but it's all about their collective body language.).. why are the Pats funny to me? Maybe it's because Welker and company are like Mini Coopers out there, zigzagging around, their drumsticks spinning like cartoon character legs. The opposing three-hundred-pound defensive players look like they are trying to grab speedy toddlers.
• For a long time, the AFC seemed deeper, top to bottom, than the NFC. That's clearly shifted over the last few seasons, and the switchover looks to be complete after the first four weeks. Every NFC team is dangerous on any given week. The AFC has a few dogs: the Jets, the Browns, three-quarters of the AFC South.
• I don't understand the surprise at the NFC West's rise. This league is all about complete flips in stature. There are a handful of perenially-good teams that benefit from good owners and management; otherwise, terrible teams are constantly struggling to their feet before sinking back to the floor. Did people really think the NFC Worst West would collectively stink for decades?

• Washington Redskins rookie Robert Griffin III has been around just long enough for the scrutiny to worm into him. He's almost too engaged with the media and the public--too open with them/us. Meanwhile, fans and 'heads are dividing into underrated/overrated camps already.. I was thinking Griffin is so savvy, and then he got jumped for criticizing things like the opposing teams' style. At some point, everyone in the public eye seems to get swallowed up. Truly, no one is immune: you are caught between being honest, true, 100%, and realizing that the honest and true you is bound to be crushed by the cwuel cwuel world. And as intelligent as RG seems to be, he doesn't appear to understand how delicious his every word and deed have become. This is why the Bradys and Derek Jeters are who they are. They are normally silent, or they're slippery when they must speak. Athletes try to emulate their play, when it may be their off-the-field persona that needs copying.
• Back to the NFC West: specifically, the St. Louis Rams. For years I've thought it a shame that running back Steven Jackson be wasted on this team. RBs only have about four or five peak years, sandwiched between a few seasons on each side. Jackson has a few eye-popping stats, like 2,334 from scrimmage back in '06. He tends to rush for over 1,000 even when missing games because of injury. But the Rams seem to be milking this man's talent.